Chapter 4 - The South Pier Decoy
“Freeze! Police!” a sharp voice echoed off the damp brick walls, accompanied by the heavy, rhythmic thud of combat boots closing in on the loading dock.
Eleanor shoved the burner phone deep into her pocket and grabbed Clara’s shoulders, her eyes wild with a desperate, frantic urgency. “Clara, listen to me very carefully. Take this book, run to the end of the alley, and get into the black sedan idling by the dumpster. Do not look back, do not talk to the men inside, and under no circumstances do you open that album again until the car stops.”
“Where are you going, Mom?” Clara asked, her lower lip trembling as she clutched the green book against her floral dress. “Are you coming with me?”
“I have to lead them away,” Eleanor lied, pressing a cold kiss to Clara’s forehead before pushing her hard toward the opposite exit. “Run, Clara! Run!”
Clara bolted down the dark corridor, her little yellow boots splashing through puddles of oily water. She rounded the corner just as two uniformed officers burst into the alley, their flashlights sweeping wildly across the concrete. She didn’t look back, exactly as she had been told, sliding into the open door of the idling black sedan parked near the pier. The heavy leather door slammed shut behind her automatically, sealing her inside a cabin that smelled faintly of expensive cigar smoke and old paper.
The car lurched forward instantly, throwing Clara back against the upholstered headrest as it sped away from the pier. Through the tinted rear window, she watched her mother step out from the shadows of the loading dock, raising her hands slowly as the police officers swarmed around her.
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As the car accelerated onto the highway, the driver’s partition window slowly lowered, revealing a familiar, weathered face in the rearview mirror.
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